The Bryce Milano Quintet to kick off Brown Bag concert series

Tuesday

Nov 13, 2012 at 6:00 AMNov 13, 2012 at 12:26 PM

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The Bryce Milano Quintet is first out of the bag this fall, and they may be the youngest.

Bryce Milano, at 20, is nine years younger than the Brown Bag concert series itself at Mechanics Hall. But the jazz composer and mandolin player has been getting good notices for some time. Of an earlier Milano lineup, JazzMando.com wrote in 2010, “These boys are seriously good.”

“We're all really excited,” Milano said of performing for the first time both in Worcester and Mechanics Hall at noon Wednesday with a concert that kicks off the Brown Bag Concert autumn series. The free Brown Bag concerts are produced by Mechanics Hall and radio station WICN-FM (90.5).

Milano is a performance major at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and the rest of the quintet are Berklee students as well: Alex Hargreaves, violin (“Alex and I have been close friends since meeting each other at a bluegrass festival in Nashville when we were about 13”); Devon Yesberger, piano (“met at Berklee, now roommates”); Diego Ramirez, drums (“met in an English class at Berklee”); and Nori Shiota, bass (“met in — pianist and professor — Leo Blanco's ensemble at Berklee”).

“This is a very new incarnation,” Milano said of the quintet. “It's been an exciting process. There's a lot of new material we're putting together.”

Originally from Clifton Heights near Philadelphia, Milano said he first heard mandolin when was 9 years old. He started playing the instrument soon after. By 13 he was performing.

“I'm still not sure what drew me to the instrument, being that I had no musical experience or interests prior to that, but the record was Nickel Creek's debut release (the progressive acoustic trio's 'Cow Poke').”

Meanwhile, “I starting listening to jazz shortly after going to my first bluegrass festival — oddly enough — and being introduced to swing and 'gypsy jazz' by a band called Too Blue.”

Michael Borgida, marketing manager for off-campus projects at Berklee, got to know Milano through a student-run record label at the college, Jazz Revelation Records. Milano auditioned and was chosen to be on the latest release, “Ripple Effect.”

“Bryce's fluidity and creativity on the mandolin make him stand out as one of the leading voices on the instrument,” Borgida said. “His compositions capture elements of jazz and folk while keeping a contemporary, infectious groove.”

Asked how he would describe the sound of his Bryce Milano Quintet, Milano replied, “'Acoustic jazz' is maybe the closest approximation I can come up with.”

Most of Wednesday's set will be composed of his own music. “The band is definitely a bit of an experiment, as I think people will hear. The music I write has a fairly wide range of influences, which usually end up manifesting themselves in some way or another in almost every song I write.”

The inspiration for the Brown Bag series was the idea of having a free organ recital to highlight the restoration of the Worcester Organ at Mechanics Hall, said Kathleen Gagne, hall publicist. The recital, and “very first Brown Bag concert” was July 7, 1983, she said. WICN broadcast the concert and soon entered into a partnership with Mechanics Hall to present the Brown Bag series.

“WICN is thrilled to continue our three-decade partnership with Mechanics Hall,” said WICN general manager Gerry Weston. “The Brown Bag Concert series is a downtown Worcester tradition and a live radio tradition. The fall 2012 lineup is outstanding. And it's all free!”

The concerts are held at noon every Wednesday. People can bring their own lunch or purchase one at the hall prepared by Eric's LaPatisserie Café. Fallon Community Health Plan is sponsoring the autumn series. The rest of the autumn lineup is as follows:

Nov. 21: Pamela Hines Quartet. Boston MetroWest jazz pianist and composer Pamela Hines has won acclaim for “edgy jazz instrumentals” and the ability to “turn on a dime and bring forth the most inspiring rendition of an arrangement of a classic standard” (Jazz Times). She'll be joined by Greg Dudzienski (sax), John Lockwood (bass), and Les Harris (drums).

Nov. 28: Beantown Swing Orchestra. The Boston big band features “American Idol” finalist John Stevens and a repertoire that includes swing era classics and Sinatra.

Dec. 5: USAF Band of Liberty. The 60-member band, stationed at Hanscom AFB, returns to Mechanics Hall for a show with patriotic songs and sounds of the season as well as American Songbook favorites.

Dec. 12: The Makanda Project. Makanda Ken McIntyre (1931-2001) was a Boston-born jazz musician and composer who died in relative obscurity. But The Makanda Project is an ensemble dedicated to his legacy that performs McIntyre's work and demonstrates the full range and imagination of his compositions.

At noon Dec. 19, there will be a free “Festival Holiday Concert” featuring a combined choir from downtown Worcester churches, a hand bell choir, organ music, and sing-a-longs. For more information, visit www.mechanicshall.org.